Bloomington teacher victim of fake Facebook page

Police say a Bloomington high school teacher was recently the victim of a Facebook page that she did not create and which was used to send inappropriate messages to students.

Cmdr. Mark Stehlik said Tuesday that police are still investigating who set up the fake Facebook page of a Jefferson High School teacher after seizing a computer and cellphones last week. Police traced the Facebook account to a computer at a Bloomington house where a recent high school graduate lives.

"This is not a common thing," Stehlik said. "I've never seen someone create a fake Facebook page. I'm sure it's happened, but our agency hasn't seen it before" in a case in which it was the sole criminal activity.

Charges have not been filed, although Stehlik said identity theft could be involved.

School district spokesman Rick Kaufman said this is the first incident the district has dealt with involving a fraudulent Facebook page of a staff member.

"At this point, there's nothing we can do," he said. "We'll leave it up to the police."

The teacher, 28, contacted the account creator asking that the fake page be closed after it started last September, according to a search warrant affidavit filed recently in Hennepin County District Court. Activity continued, though, with inappropriate messages to former and current students, such as one telling a former student: "Happy birthday, you have my permission to get intoxicated."

Parents of the students receiving the messages contacted the high school and the teacher reported the fraudulent page to police in February.

Stehlik said it's still unclear who had access to the Facebook page. The page has since been shut down.